Novel in Verse. As the son of a rock star who's notorious for his addictions, 17-year-old Blade Morrison's privilege has always been shadowed by his dad's neglect and unreliability. Still, Blade's own music provides him with a creative outlet -- or it used to, until a shocking family secret upended his life and sent him on a journey from California to Ghana in search of answers. Combining Blade's authentic first-person voice with his original lyrics and references to classic rock, this novel in verse is a "rhythmic, impassioned ode to family, identity, and the history of rock and roll" (Booklist).

Thriller. He is watching. He doesn't have a name, yet Esther and the other Special Ones know that his cameras monitor their every move. Even though they live on an isolated, old-fashioned farm, the Special Ones' job is to offer spiritual guidance to his internet cult followers -- and failure to do so could result in any of them being "renewed" and never seen again. Oozing suspense and claustrophobic dread, this tale of brainwashing, complicity, and survival is a must-read for fans of provocative thrillers such as Stephanie Oakes' The Sacred Lies of Minnow Bly or Kevin Brooks' The Bunker Diaries.

Fiction. After a year at boarding school, Suzette is back in Los Angeles to spend the summer with her close, multiracial family. She's especially hoping to renew her bond with her brother Lionel, who has bipolar disorder. That hope is tested, however, when Lionel asks her to keep an uneasy secret. Developing a crush on the girl that Lionel likes doesn't make things any easier, especially since Suzette is also attracted to her old friend Emil and is still coping with the fallout from a romance with her roommate. An inclusive supporting cast underscores Suzette's intersecting identities and realistically messy emotions in this character-driven story about love and loyalty.

Cash Carter is the young, world famous lead actor of the hit television show Wiz Kids. When four fans jokingly invite him on a cross-country road trip, they are shocked that he actually takes them up on it. Chased by paparazzi and hounded by reporters, this unlikely crew takes off on a journey of a lifetime--but along the way they discover that the star they love has deep secrets he's been keeping. What they come to learn about the life of the mysterious person they thought they knew will teach them about the power of empathy and the unbreakable bond of true friendship.

Magical Realism. A battered, handwritten spellbook presents an irresistible temptation in this atmospheric and slightly supernatural read. Following the May bonfire in the Irish town of Balmallen, several teens notice missing items. Some of the lost things are material, such as the diaries of Laurel and her friends; others are more intangible, such as a mother's love or a friend's safety. The spell seems like a solution, but the price of restoring what was lost may be more than the spell's casters can bear. Though the story's multiple narrators might be perplexing at first, patient readers will be rewarded by the elegant twist that brings their storylines together.

Science Fiction. When NASA begins recruiting teens for their top-secret Interworlds Agency, Rosa Hayashi and Eddie Toivonen are both eager to apply. Highly educated and scientific, Rosa is perfect NASA material, while Eddie (who's running from his abusive dad) is a more unconventional choice. After some fierce competition and "no small amount of snarky banter" (Publishers Weekly), Rosa and Eddie both make the cut -- and their first assignment arrives sooner than expected in the form of some unfriendly extraterrestrial visitors. If you love humor and rocket science in equal measure, you won't want to miss What Goes Up.

Lucy Hansson was ready for a perfect summer with her boyfriend, working at her childhood Bible camp on the lake and spending quality time with her parents. But when her mom's cancer reappears, Lucy falters--in her faith and in her ability to cope. When her boyfriend "pauses" their relationship and her summer job switches to a different camp--one for troubled kids--Lucy isn't sure how much more she can handle. Attempting to accept a new normal, Lucy slowly regains footing among her vibrant, diverse coworkers, Sundays with her mom, and a crush on a fellow counselor. But when long-hidden family secrets emerge, can Lucy set aside her problems and discover what grace really means?

Pay close attention and you might solve this. On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention. Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule. Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess. Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing. Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher. AndSimon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app. Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention Simon's dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who’s still on the loose? Everyone has secrets, right? What really matters is how far you would go to protect them.

Ramona was only five years old when Hurricane Katrina changed her life forever. Since then, it’s been Ramona and her family against the world. Standing over six feet tall with unmistakable blue hair, Ramona is sure of three things: she likes girls, she’s fiercely devoted to her family, and she knows she’s destined for something bigger than the trailer she calls home in Eulogy, Mississippi. But juggling multiple jobs, her flaky mom, and her well-meaning but ineffectual dad forces her to be the adult of the family. The return of her childhood friend Freddie brings a welcome distraction. Ramona’s friendship with the former competitive swimmer picks up exactly where it left off, and soon he’s talked her into joining him for laps at the pool. But as Ramona falls in love with swimming, her feelings for Freddie begin to shift too, which is the last thing she expected. Ramona begins to wonder if perhaps she likes girls and guys, or if this new attraction is just a fluke. Either way, Ramona will discover that, for her, life and love are more fluid than they seem.

It’s the start of Jordan Sun’s junior year at the Kensington-Blaine Boarding School for the Performing Arts. Unfortunately, she’s an Alto 2, which—in the musical theatre world—is sort of like being a vulture in the wild: She has a spot in the ecosystem, but nobody’s falling over themselves to express their appreciation. So it’s no surprise when she gets shut out of the fall musical for the third year straight. But then the school gets a mass email: A spot has opened up in the Sharpshooters, Kensington’s elite a cappella octet. Worshiped . . . revered . . . all male. Desperate to prove herself, Jordan auditions in her most convincing drag, and it turns out that Jordan Sun, Tenor 1, is exactly what the Sharps are looking for.

Dahlia 16 sees her face in every crowd. She’s nothing special—just one of five thousand girls created from a single genome to work for the greater good of the city. Meeting Trigger 17 changes everything. He thinks she’s interesting. Beautiful. Unique. Which means he must be flawed. When Dahlia can’t stop thinking about him—when she can’t resist looking for him, even though that means breaking the rules—she realizes she’s flawed, too. But if she’s flawed, then so are all her identicals. And any genome found to be flawed will be recalled. Destroyed. Getting caught with Trigger would seal not only Dahlia’s fate, but that of all five thousand girls who share her face. But what if Trigger is right? What if Dahlia is different? Suddenly the girl who always follows the rules is breaking them, one by one by one.

Love Triangles

Though love triangles often provoke strong reactions (you either love 'em or hate 'em), they come in lots of different flavors. The books below offer just a small sampling -- for a wider variety of love triangles, keep an eye out for Three Sides of a Heart, edited by Natalie C. Parker and on shelves in December 2017.

Fantasy. When Shahrzad marries Khalid, the Caliph of Khorasan, she has only revenge on her mind. Her best friend was one of the many brides that the caliph has killed, and Shazi plans to take him down, even if it means abandoning Tariq, her betrothed. Yet after the wedding, Shazi finds herself strangely drawn to Khalid, and even as Tariq plots to storm the palace, her feelings for Khalid grow, leading to a high-stakes love triangle and a high-drama cliffhanger ending (resolved in the sequel, The Rose & the Dagger). For another lush fantasy inspired by Middle Eastern folk tales, pick up E.K. Johnston's A Thousand Nights.

Fiction. The letters were never supposed to be sent. For awkward 16-year-old Lara Jean, writing secret love letters to help herself get over her crushes was just another hobby, like knitting or scrapbooking. So when the letters are accidentally mailed, Lara Jean freaks out. Embarrassed by her letter to her sister's ex-boyfriend, Josh, Lara Jean denies her feelings for him by pretending to date Peter, one of her other former crushes. Things only get messier from there. With memorable characters and realistically complicated relationships (especially among Lara Jean's tight-knit Korean-American family) this series opener is a charmer.

Fiction. Jordan Woods may come from a family of high-profile football players, but she's worked harder than any guy to earn her spot as quarterback of her school football team. Now, with the state championship in sight, Jordan is suddenly sidetracked by personal drama: she's attracted to Ty, who's competing for her position on the team, but her best friend Henry has confessed that he's in love with her. Similar to Catherine Gilbert Murdock's Dairy Queen, this 1st book in the Hundred Oaks series portrays a relatable female athlete trying to balance her life both on and off the field.

Science Fiction. It's not exactly a typical setup for a love triangle: Reese and her boyfriend David share unusual abilities after being injected with alien DNA, yet Reese still feels a strong connection to her ex-girlfriend Amber, who turned out to be an alien. In fact, all of humanity has just learned about the presence of aliens on Earth, a revelation that forces Reese, David, and Amber into the center of a wide-reaching conspiracy. Though you'll need to start with the previous book, Adaptation, to understand this sequel, Inheritance will appeal to readers who crave an unconventional approach to both science fiction and romance.

Romance. As a costume designer, 17-year-old San Franciscan Lola thinks nothing of expressing herself with loud patterns, wigs, and sequins. Figuring out exactly what she needs to express, however, is a little more challenging. Despite her two dads' disapproval, Lola is happy with her older rock-musician boyfriend, Max...until Cricket Bell, aspiring inventor and Lola's first love, moved back into the house next door, and Lola begins questioning what (and who) she truly wants. Sweet, steamy, and filled with quirky characters, Lola and the Boy Next Door is natural choice for fans of Becky Albertalli or Rainbow Rowell.